Thread: Newbie Help Cleaning Razor

Hi all probably a silly newbie question but after I have shaved I clean my razor best I can but still have dried soap and stuff near the cutting edge how is it best to get razor really clean as I scared of doing something silly and taking the edge off of my new razor thanks for any help given.

I know it may seem a bit scary, but wiping off the cutting edge really won't affect the edge in itself. When I finish I wipe it off with a wet face cloth then hit the strop up for about 50 passes then wipe the blade with a cloth sprayed in gun oil then put it away. ( the gun oil is to preserve the razor as I live in a high humidity area) nothing much to it. Hope it helps

Originally Posted by RobinHood68

Hi all probably a silly newbie question but after I have shaved I clean my razor best I can but still have dried soap and stuff near the cutting edge how is it best to get razor really clean as I scared of doing something silly and taking the edge off of my new razor thanks for any help given.

Someone would have to be really careless to harm the edge while wiping down the razor. Here's what I do with my razors after a shave:

Rinse the blade with the hottest tap water possible because it will help aid in further drying out the blade once it is wiped off. While rinsing I use my finger to gently wipe the blade in a downward direction from spine to edge. In other words, start at the spine and go straight down until your finger gently falls off the edge. This way, you are sure to get any dried soap that may not be rinsing off the very edge of the blade.

Using a dry towel, I fold the the towel over the spine edge on the heel end and pinch it between my forefinger & thumb then pull the razor all the way through until it pulls out from between the towel. Just make sure the edge of the blade is visible and isn't buried below your fingers so you don't risk cutting the towel or worse, your fingers. I do that several times during my the drying process. Next, I lay the towel over my finger tips and gently drag the razor over the towel from spine to edge. This motion is just like when rinsing off the blade and letting my finger fall of the edge of the blade. Thouroughly wipe down the tang & scale. Using the corner or folded edge of the towel, make sure to wipe the inside of the scale. Any water droplets left on the inside of the scale will likely transfer to the blade once it is closed and leave a nasty stain on the blade. The last thing I do is blow in between the scale all around the hinge point.

Last but now least, I strop after drying off the razor because the friction further aids in drying any left over moisture.

Hope this helps & happy shaving!

Welcome, first of all. With your questions, there are a few concerns you'll need to address:
1) You have dried soap on the edge. This means that you are not sufficiently rinsing your razor while you are shaving. This also probably means that your lather is too dry. You can do a number of things to keep your lather wet, but the best option is to make ti wet in the first place.
2) How are you rinsing the razor? If you are simply swirling it around in the water, or if you are running it under the faucet, be careful that no water gets into the swivel. Water is notoriously hard to dry from there. Some of the old-school masters around here use a wet sponge, and wipe the edge of the razor against it to clean as they shave.
3) A strop will go a long way toward preserving your edge, as well as buffing off any and all bits of dried whatever left by your shave. It will also buff off any oxidized material, keeping fresh steel in contact with your face.
4) As josh said, you're gonna want to use some sort of oil to keep your blade from rusting. Personally, I use baby oil. I would caution you to steer clear of petroleum products like gun oil or machine oil. Reason being that these are not meant to be processed by the human body. They can be poisonous, in fact. If you disagree, read the warning labels on the containers. Using some form of mild oil, such as mineral oil (baby oil is scented mineral oil), vegetable oil, olive oil, etc. can preserve your steel from rust.
5) Above all, have fun!

I just use 1 square of the good old TP. it's super soft. if you fold it in half, then half again you can safely -GENTLY!- run it over the blade LIGHTLY. if the blade is wet beforehand, there's no stain after the eh hem... wipe.

I'll usually put a drip or two of oil on the blade before it goes in the box. It's a brand new razor.

I think I'm going to keep a new sponge close by specifically for the purpose of the previous post. Thanks SonOf1337!

Originally Posted by kcarlisle

Thouroughly wipe down the tang & scale. Using the corner or folded edge of the towel, make sure to wipe the inside of the scale. Any water droplets left on the inside of the scale will likely transfer to the blade once it is closed and leave a nasty stain on the blade. The last thing I do is blow in between the scale all around the hinge point.

KC, I found the above didn't guarantee that water had been driven from the pivot and the surfaces inside the scales. I've found the following to work well for my razors in frequent rotation- give this a try:

1.) Open your refrigerator and find that tall narrow jar of olives you bought when you were going through your "martini phase".
2.) Throw out olives. Now that you've discovered you don't actually like martinis there's really no reason to keep brine-soaked olives around. Sober, nobody likes them. They're nasty.
3.) Wash and dry jar.
4.) Fill jar with rubbing alcohol.
5.) Add about a half-teaspoon of mineral (baby) oil.
6.) Close jar and shake mixture vigorously.

You now have an easy-to-use solution that will drive out water from the pivot area and leave a really thin coat of protective oil on every surface of your razor-- including the surfaces that you can't see or get to by hand.

7.) When you're finished shaving and have cleaned the blade, close the razor, dip the toe end in the mix, then the pivot end.

8.) Open and close the razor a couple of times to help the alcohol/oil mix work its way into the pivot, pat dry and you're finished. Just pat the razor dry to absorb excess liquid. You want to get it "not dripping wet", you don't want to remove the protective oil coating.

Better, (if you're not going to store the razor immediately), just leave it wet. Alcohol evaporates really quickly.

No muss, no fuss, guaranteed rust prevention in seconds.

(Original post covering this method: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post598381. Thanks Utopian!)

HTH,

Thanks for all the info guys now got my razor nice and clean after use. I have now bought a second vingtage razor from a guy in england who restores and and makes strops its not pristine but isnt bad and has a very sharp edge to it. I hope to now shave daily and will rotate the two razors I have and hope I will soon gain confidence and a nice shave again thanks for all the help this is an excellent website and everyone is so helpfull thans Wayne in UK.